| For Immediate Release January 22, 2007 |
Contact: Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 |
WHITE SUPREMACIST GANG MEMBER
SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR HATE CRIMES AGAINST AFRICAN-AMERICAN MAN IN WHEELCHAIR
NEWPORT BEACH – A white supremacist gang member was convicted today for hate crimes against an African-American man in a wheelchair. Ronald Lee Bray, 25, Huntington Beach, pleaded guilty to one count of felony hate crimes and one count of felony criminal threats with a hate crimes enhancement. He was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison.
On July 7, 2006, Bray noticed an African-American man in a wheelchair leaving a Costa Mesa 7-Eleven and began using racial slurs directed at the victim. Bray left the store and approached the victim while continuing to use racially charged names. He spit on the victim and rolled his wheelchair into a light post. Bray then raised his arm in a Nazi salute and called out the name of his white supremacist gang before fleeing the scene.
Deputy District Attorney Scott Steiner of the Felony Projects Unit prosecuted this case.
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